Human After All
by 0zer0
Summary: As HG is learning to fit into the Warehouse team Myka comes to the rescue and learns a little more about her new friend.
1. Chapter 1

Human After All

A/N: Takes place during season 2 between Vendetta and Buried. Another exploration of the characters while I learn to write for them.

Chapter 1

Pete and Myka skidded to a halt as they came to a dead end with a slightly out of breath HG bringing up the rear.

"Where did he go?"

Myka dug in her pocket and pulled out her flashlight using it to illuminate the dimly lit hallway of the abandon warehouse their young quarry had clearly been frequenting for awhile. The building had numerous halls and rooms that were empty of any clue to their original purpose, but she was fairly certain it was never intended to be a hang out spot for a gang of adolescents. Adolescents who had found and activated an annoying little artifact and were now giving the agents a merry chase through the building. With the flashlight held high she quickly spotted what looked like a small opening in the wall. "There!"

Kneeling down Myka peered down the darkened passageway. It looked like it had been dug out of dirt and veered to the left limiting any view they might of had. "One of us has to follow."

Pete nodded. "Right. HG take the tunnel and Myka and I will try to find where this thing comes out on the other side."

HG gave the dark hole in the wall a skeptical look. "Why me? Is this a hazing the new guy thing? Because technically I am the senior Warehouse agent."

Pete rolled his eyes. "No. You are just the smallest one. I doubt I would get more than a foot down there before getting stuck."

"He's right HG, but I don't mind going in if you'd rather..." Myka had never seen HG balk at any task and figured she would give it a go if the woman really didn't want to crawl around in the small dirty tunnel. It was not a very elegant assignment.

"No. No. Its fine. Give me your torch." Taking Myka's flashlight she grimaced as she knelt on the dirty floor and peered into the tunnel. Hesitating she also pulled out her tesla before beginning to crawl in.

As the woman's feet disappeared from view Pete and Myka could both hear her muttering about waking up 100 years in the future and everyone had become giants.

Grinning Pete leaned down to shout down the tunnel. "You can have first shower when we get done HG!"

Myka gave him a punch on the arm before looking to see if HG was still visible but she had already managed to crawl past the bend in the tunnel and out of sight. "See you on the other side HG!"

As they turned to go back they way they had come, Myka felt a feeling of unease and glanced back at the dark hole HG had disappeared down, but quickly dismissed it. Pete was the one who 'got vibes'. Not her. She was just feeling guilty for sending HG when she could have just as easily been the one crawling in the tunnel. Used to working with one another she and Pete quickly split up to circle around the old building looking for the outlet of the tunnel. In short order Myka spotted their runner struggling to crawl up through a drain pipe 20 feet behind the building. "Pete! Over here!"

Dashing over the broken ground of the abandon lot, Myka got to the kid just as he freed himself from the pipe and grabbed a hold of his collar. "Gotcha!"

The boy, no more than 12, began kicking and shouting. "Let me go lady!"

Tightening her grip she smiled as Pete jogged up to them pulling on his purple gloves. Without even removing the back pack from the kids shoulders Pete unzipped it and reached inside. Pulling out the innocent looking pencil box with 1950's cartoon characters on the side he then dropped it into the neutralizing bag amid a shower of purple sparks.

Loosening her grip, Myka regretted it instantly as the kid spun, kicked her in the shin, and took off running again shouting profanities over his shoulder. Hopping on one foot till she could grab Pete's arm for balance Myka rubbed her sore leg and asked, "Should we go after him?"

"Do you really want to?"

The answer obvious they flipped open their Farnsworth to let Artie know they had gotten the artifact.

"Rest assured Artie. The local elementary school is once again safe from the cheating pencil artifact."

Artie's somewhat distorted voice came over the small speaker. "Good good! I'm glad you found it without any trouble."

Still rubbing her leg, Myka grumbled, "Nope. No trouble at all." It really hadn't been that big of an assignment. Certainly not one that required 3 full Agents to fulfill, but they had been on their way back from a slightly more harrowing recovery when Artie had picked up the ping. So they had made a quick detour and ended up chasing a bunch of sixth grade wanna-be gangsters. Sometimes it didn't pay to do this job...

While Pete continued to chat with Artie and now Claudia over the Farnsworth, Myka looked into the drain pipe hoping to see HG at least nearing the exit. Leaning down she shouted, "HG!" Waiting a beat for a response she was a little startled when Pete suddenly appeared at her side with a somewhat grim expression on his face causing the anxiety from earlier to rear up again but stronger.

This time they both shouted. "HG!"

Waiting a beat they both listened for any sound of a response. Hearing nothing, Myka dropped to her knees and made to go into the pipe. "I'm going in after her."

"Wait." Pete put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Maybe she turned around and went back out the other side. Let me run inside and see if she is near the other end."

"Hurry!"

Myka waited anxiously by the drain pipe straining to hear any sound from inside. The sound of her cell phone ringing startled her. Seeing Pete's number she immediately answered with a question. "Do you have her?"

"No. She isn't at this end and I can't hear or see anything. Does she have her cell on her? I tried dialing it..."

"I doubt it. She rarely carries one."

"Well why not!" Pete's voice rose an octave in clear frustration.

"Who is she going to call Pete? Besides, it probably wouldn't work in the tunnel anyway..." Myka stood and began pulling her coat off. "I'm going in this end."

"Wait, let me bring you the Farnsworth. It will work underground... Myka? Myka?" Realizing she had hung up he ran back outside trying to catch her, but only found her dark blue blazer lying on the ground outside the concrete drainage pipe. "Damn it Myka." Feeling impotent all he could do was kneel on the ground peering into the darkness hoping his fellow agents would come back out soon. His mind spun with possible scenarios from HG getting lost in a labyrinth to tunnel collapses.


	2. Chapter 2

ch 2

Not hesitating, Myka had crawled into the dark tunnel with only her cell phone to illuminate the passage with a dim bluish light. The tube was not quite high enough for her to crawl on her hands and knees so she was doing a bit of a crab crawl on her elbows and could already feel her arms, belly, and legs soaked through with the small trickle of water that ran down the center of the pipe. She had only gone about 15 feet before she came to a break in the drainage pipe creating a t-like intersection. Strait ahead the drain pipe continued, but a hard right turn led into a more primitive dirt tunnel that looked similar to the entrance they had seen inside the abandon warehouse.

Using her cell to flash light down the drain pipe and then the dirt tunnel she strained her eyes for any sign of HG. After calling out the other Agent's name and getting no response she took an educated guess that HG hadn't gone the other way she shifted her body to make the tight turn. There wasn't any water in this portion of the tunnel. Just dirt. Trying to conserve her phone battery she would flash it for a minute and then crawl on in darkness for a few feet before the close quarters and utter blackness would cause her to instinctively press the small display screen again.

The dirt tunnel was narrower and the oppressive feel that the earth was crushing down on top of her was getting hard to ignore. Forcing herself to breath evenly and not panic Myka flashed her phone again and nearly cried in relief when she saw HG's dark head in the distance. "HG! Are you all right?" Getting no response Myka shimmied forward as quickly as she could. Flashing her cell immediately when it cut off. As she neared she could see the other woman's head was bent not looking up as Myka approached. At first she thought the other woman was unconscious but then she noticed her position. HG had shifted on her side and was pressing her back against one wall of the tunnel with her hands and knees pressed against the opposite side as if to hold the walls back from crushing her. In each hand she still clutched the flashlight and tesla.

As Myka's phone dimmed again she realized that the flashlight must have died leaving HG in utter darkness. Creeping forward carefully, Myka eyed the tesla gripped in the other agent's hand. She could see that HG had the trigger depressed but it was clearly out of juice. She must have used the light of the gun till it too had run out leaving her in the oppressive darkness. Something far to reminiscent of being Bronzed for even HG's incredible will to overcome.

Knowing she would have to proceed carefully Myka gently touched HG's head. "Helena? Its me Myka." Easing forward till she could see HG's face she pushed the dirty hair out of the way. In the dim blue light she could see that HG had her eyes squeezed tightly shut and every inch of her body was completely tense. Awkwardly keeping the phone lit with one hand she used the other to stroke HG's face. "Please Helena. You have to hear me. Feel my touch. You aren't back there. I swear if you just open your eyes and come with me I will get you back to day light. I promise."

At first getting no response, Myka just continued to touch the other woman and talk to her. She knew that being bronzed was like being in a sensory deprivation tank. Just the thought of being in a tank for 100 years gave Myka nightmares. She could kick herself for having let HG enter the tunnel as she realized the other woman's hesitation hadn't been about not wanting to get dirty. It had been a much deeper phobia.

Working the tesla and flashlight out of HG's stiff fingers, Myka tried to pull the woman's arms lose from the wall but the she was using every ounce of her strength to hold herself in place. "Damn it HG!" Fear was starting to settle heavily on Myka as well as she began to panic trying to think of how to get the catatonic agent to move.

Reaching out she cradled HG's chin and forced the woman's head to turn toward her. "Open your eyes HG. Open them right now!" They were so close together that Myka could press her lips to HG's furrowed brow, and then, clutching HG's stiff arms she used her cheek to rub against HG's trying to give as much physical contact as possible. In a quiet voice she begged, "Please open your eyes Helena. Please. I need you to help me get us out of here because I'm not leaving you behind."

Even as the light from the cell phone blinked off, Myka felt HG give a little gasp of breath against her face. Pulling back slightly Myka reactivated the phone and was greeted by the sight of HG's frightened eyes looking directly at her in the dim light.

"Myka?"

"Yes! I'm here. I'm right here." Myka leaned back in to press her face against HG's and dust her cheek with quick kiss unbelievably relieved that the other woman seemed to be regaining her senses. "Can you move? Are you trapped?" She shifted back to try and see the other woman's legs but couldn't see anything that might be holding her in place.

Still dazed, HG carefully tried to unbend her arms and legs rolling onto her stomach. Shifting up onto her elbows she grabbed both of Myka's hands in a fierce grip. "Get me out of here now."

The tone in HG's voice was almost frightening and Myka nodded her head. As she tried to pull her hand away to pick up the phone HG refused to let go. "Helena, you are going to have to let go of my hand."

"No."

"Just one. So I can grab the phone and your tesla."

Just then the phone once again went dark and HG's hands tightened around Myka's in a death grip. Leaning forward Myka spoke directly into HG's ear. Their cheeks touching. "I'm right here. Feel my hands. Feel my face. Can you feel me?"

After a second she felt HG nod her head and whisper, "Yes."

"Good. Now I'm going to let go with this hand." She shook the hand she meant so HG would know, "And I'm going to turn on the phone again so we have light. Okay?"

Again the whisper in the dark answered. "Okay."

Slowly releasing HG's hand, Myka flicked on her phone again only to see HG already gripping the tunnel wall with the freed hand. "Its okay Helena. We are okay. Stay with me." Grabbing the tesla she awkwardly stuck it into the back of her pants before gripping the phone and shifting onto her elbows. "I am going to crawl backwards and you are going to crawl toward me. Okay?" Seeing HG nod and remove her hand from the wall, Myka smiled. "Good. Now come on."

Slowly but steadily Myka backed up the tunnel never letting go of HG's hand or letting the phone light fade. After an eternity that was actually only a few minutes she felt her feet touch a wall and knew they had reached the T junction with the drainage pipe. "HG. We are almost there. We are at a junction. I'm am going to shift back so you can go out head first toward the exit in front of me."

Myka had been watching HG stoically crawling the entire time, but at her words the traumatized woman began to panic. "No! Don't let me go!"

"It will be faster Helena. Trust me. You will be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Seeing HG's eyes going wild and the hand gripping hers tightening to painful levels, Myka risked putting the phone down and letting it go dark to reach out with her free hand to touch HG's face. Holding the woman's head in a strong grip she scooted forward till their foreheads touched. "Feel me Helena. I am real. You just have to trust me a little bit further and we will both be out of here. Okay?"

Just as the phone went out again HG relaxed her grip but didn't let go. With her own free hand she touched Myka's face briefly. "Okay."

Quickly relighting the phone Myka smiled broadly at the other woman. "Good. You are doing great." Awkwardly shifting her legs around the bend Myka scooted back into the drainage pipe. As she pulled her shoulders out of the dirt tunnel she gave a small involuntary cry when she could immediately see the point of light shining in the opening. As HG's head and shoulders pushed into the space she also cried out in relief and began scrambling toward the light as quickly as she could. In a flash she was way ahead of Myka leaving her rescuer to crawl toward the exit alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

Nearing the end of the drainage pipe Myka could see Pete's head leaning over the opening with a concerned smile on his face. Reaching out he helped pull her to her feet asking if she was all right. Barely answering him she looked around for HG finally spotting her kneeling on a patch of grass some distance away. Immediately moving toward the other woman Pete pulled her up short. "She looked completely freaked Myka. What happened? She just burst out of the tunnel and took off running. If I had gotten in her way I think she would have hurt me. Bad."

Grimacing, Myka shook her head. "The flashlight went out Pete." At his slightly confused look she added, "So she was trapped in complete darkness... like being bronzed...?"

"Ah." Finally Pete got her meaning. "Then definitely freaked."

"Justifiably freaked. We shouldn't have let her go in that tunnel Pete."

"How could we know Myka?"

"How could we not? How can anyone expect her to just...just go on like the things that have been done to her never happened!"

Pete raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not disagreeing with you Myka, but I'm sure the Regents evaluated her... do you think she's unfit?" It surprised him that Myka would express any doubts about HG's fitness to be an agent.

"No! That's not what I'm saying Pete." Frustrated Myka glared at him. "I just think we should all try to keep in mind that behind that huge intellect is a human being that has experienced quite a lot of trauma."

Pete shrugged, "The giant ego doesn't hurt either..."

"And its never occurred to YOU that a big ego may be hiding vulnerabilities?" Taking her coat from Pete she didn't bother to put it on. The rest of her cloths were obviously ruined. No need to trash the coat as well. "Will you go get the car?"

"Sure." Pete turned to leave knowing that Myka wanted some time with HG and he was more than happy to give it. By the look of both women he was very glad he hadn't been down that tunnel.

Myka slowly approached HG's kneeling form. She was sitting on her knees in the grass slightly hunched over to grip the turf next to her bent legs. Myka was unsure what to do knowing HG would be trying to gather herself and not wanting to disturb her. At the same time Myka knew instinctively that the last thing the woman needed was physical isolation. She had had enough of that. Coming around to stand in front of HG she held impassive brown eyes with her own when the woman looked up at her. Getting no indication of welcome Myka went ahead and knelt in front of HG. "How are you?"

HG's gaze darted away and she gave a small shrug. "Embarrassed?"

Myka had not been expecting that. "You don't need to be."

HG's mouth twisted sardonically, but her gaze did not return to Myka's. "Thank you. For helping me."

"No need for thanks Helena. You would have done the same for me." Seeing HG shiver, Myka shook out her coat and moved to drape it over the other woman's shoulders but HG shifted away. "You are cold. Let me."

HG looked down at her own body and seemed to realize for the first time that her entire front was soaking wet and covered in dirt and mud. Identical to Myka's. "We look terrible."

Giving a soft laugh, Myka smiled as she stretched up a little to put the jacket over the other woman's shoulders. "Yes we do."

Slowly, HG unclenched hands that had been gripping the earth beside her legs. Bringing her hands up she stared at the mud covered appendages as a few blades of grass fell away from their trembling. "I don't feel cold."

Myka took HG's hands in hers, but had to move quickly as HG tried to pull them away. Holding tight she began to rub them as she met HG's distressed gaze. "Can you feel that?"

HG almost looked pained at the pressure, but nodded her head. "I'm not crazy."

"I know you're not Helena."

Casting an angry look over her shoulder at the drain pipe, HG spoke in a disgusted tone, "What happened in there... was crazy. Wasn't it?"

When confused eyes met hers Myka sighed sadly. "What happened in there was a completely normal reaction to a very abnormal experience."

"You didn't panic." HG almost sounded accusatory.

"I hadn't been bronzed for a 100 years." The words caused HG to flinch and look down, so Myka reached out with one hand under HG's chin to tilt her head back up to meet her eyes. "Have you talked to anyone about it? Did the Regents provide you with any counseling?"

HG shifted away pulling her chin out of Myka's grasp. "You do think I'm crazy. I'm a good agent Myka. I don't need... anything!"

Myka kept a tight grip on HG's hand and took a hold of the other woman's shoulder to keep her in place. Again HG flinched at the contact but Myka persisted. Sliding her hands around the very still shoulders she carefully drew HG into a hug that was not returned. Speaking softly into a nearby ear, Myka said, "I think you are an amazing agent, and an even more amazing so very not crazy person. But you do need things Helena. You need human contact. You need friends. You need to talk. You need love."

HG made a small choking sound and a half halfhearted attempt to pull away from the embrace. She could have easily broke free, but she really didn't want to. She wanted to sink into Myka and just feel for a minute. Weakly she let her body lean into the strong embrace resting her chin on Myka's shoulder. Keeping her eyes wide open she stared at the landscape around her wishing she never had to close her eyes again.

After a minute she pulled back and this time Myka let her. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." Sensing she had pushed their intimacy as far as HG could handle right then Myka rose to her feet holding out her hand for the other woman. When HG took it with a crooked smile she tugged the other woman to her feet. As they began walking across the parking lot toward where Pete had pulled up with the car, Myka was inordinately pleased when HG maintained a tight grip on her hand instead of distancing herself.

Pete watched the two women cross the lot. The wild look on HG's face when she had erupted from the drain pipe had taken ten years off his life. In his mind all he had been able to hear was Artie exclaiming he would never trust her. But watching Myka kneeling on the ground and HG stiffly accepting a hug was a strong counter to Artie's paranoia. The woman definitely kept him on edge, but he couldn't really tell if it was a full on vibe not to trust her or the very disconcerting fact that the woman was flat out brilliant. Add to that a 100 year difference in their ages and there was bound to be miscues and cultural misunderstandings. Truthfully he was amazed at how well HG had adapted to the modern world. It was only on a rare occasion she stumbled, and today's 'freak out' was actually a little reassuring to think that she wasn't superhuman after all. God knew keeping up with Myka was tough enough, but dealing with them both was challenging indeed.

He was brought out of his mussing as the women approached. He raised an eyebrow at the clasped hands but didn't say anything. It none the less caused Myka to blush, but HG seemed either oblivious or she simply didn't care. Another of those culture gaps perhaps. Or perhaps not. He knew Myka had a serious case of hero worship going on, but she was such a level headed person it was easy to forget that she was also a woman who felt deeply and gave loyally to those she had decided to let in potentially to her own detriment.

Stepping away from the side of the SUV he had been leaning on Pete greeted them like nothing unusual had happened. "Shall we head home ladies?"

HG let go of Myka's hand to approach the passenger side of the SUV. Relieved he wasn't going to mention the incident underground HG smiled at Pete jokingly saying, "I will be holding you to the promise of the first shower Agent Lattimer."

"Of course Agent Wells." Pete smiled back before closing her car door and walking around the front of the vehicle to take the driver seat.

By default Myka climbed into the back seat. She watched the two banter briefly about HG not getting the interior dirty because Pete didn't want to have to clean it. To the untrained eye HG's smile was as brilliant as ever, her disposition sunny, but to Myka she could still see the shadows of the past making it a little less bright.

As they got on the road, HG leaned around the front seat searching for her bag. "Myka, can you hand me my pad please?"

"Sure." Quickly pulling the iPad from the exterior pocket of HG's bag she handed the device to the other woman. Claudia had spent some time showing HG the ins and outs of her laptop, but it was the tablet that had really clicked for the woman. She had taken to the touch screen interface quickly and was already far outstripping Pete or Myka on its various uses. HG had even impressed Claudia with a few personalizations she had done to the device. It was another example of how extraordinary an intellect HG truly was.

Peeking over the seat, Myka could see nothing but text and diagrams on the screen that had quickly absorbed HG's attention. Of course the woman was also hyper aware of her surroundings and noticed Myka's movements immediately causing Myka to blush when she glanced back and caught her looking. Knowing she couldn't hide her curiosity she went ahead and asked, "What are you reading?"

Smiling, HG tilted the pad so Myka had a better view. "It is about the NASA Mercury program." At Myka's nod, HG shifted the screen back into her lap. "It is truly amazing... I would very much like to speak to some of these scientists..."

Myka sat back in her seat. "You probably could you know. You could do anything you wanted Helena. Including work for NASA."

HG just gave a thoughtful look before speaking in a teasing tone, "But then I would miss out on all our wonderful adventures."

"Not to mention the infinite wonder of the Warehouse." Pete added.

"Yes. That too." HG agreed, but there was a slightly hard edge to her voice that both Myka and Pete picked up but couldn't pursue as HG immediately laughed lightly. "Not to mention the fun of annoying Artie with my mere existence."

Pete laughed. "You do cause him a rash HG."

HG just smiled and went back to her reading.

Myka stared at HG's profile for a few minutes more before noticing Pete's curious gaze in the rear view mirror. Giving him a small glare she reached for her book since it seemed HG planned to get lost in her own reading and she didn't feel like verbally sparing with Pete. As she opened the pages to where she had left off she couldn't help but think about Claudia's offer to get her an iPad also. Myka had declined and was in fact a little appalled that HG would rather read off a screen than hold a real book in her hands, but HG was in love with the device and had simply said 'paper is dead darling' much to Claudia's amusement.

They weren't that far from home and before HG and Myka's cloths had fully dried Pete was announcing they were nearing Univille. "Would you guys like me to drop you off at Leena's while I take the artifacts to the Warehouse?" He was trying to be kind not only about the fact that both women were covered in dried mud and drainage water, but also it had been a fairly traumatic experience even if HG was acting like nothing had happened.

Myka immediately agreed. "If you don't mind."

"No problem. But you will both owe me for having to write up the report alone."

"Of course we will darling." HG smiled as she shut down her pad. "For the chance to get out of these dirty cloths I will gladly write the next 10 reports!"

Before Pete could answer Myka jumped in. "Don't even say it Pete!"

"What? She practically offered!" Pete spoke innocently.

"We share the report writing evenly so don't get any ideas about sticking Helena with all of it."

Pete mumbled under his breath about HG being a writer as he made the turn into the Inn's circular driveway. Coming to a stop he waited for both women to get out and retrieve their overnight bags from the back. Giving a waive as they made their way to the entrance he put the SUV back in gear he started pulling away headed for the Warehouse. Glancing back in the rear view mirror he could see the two women crossing the porch shoulders bumping.

Whatever effect their newest member was having on the Warehouse team one thing was certain: Myka was all in when it came to HG. He just hoped none of them regretted it.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I am sorry for the delay in posting. This was never meant to be an actual story. Just a few little character studies so I could learn how to write the Warehouse characters. So this is the final part for now. I have a few other stories I am working on and would like to get posted before the new season starts and all my speculation stories die on my laptop hard drive.

Thank you for reading!

Human After All

Ch 4

Helena stood under the tepid spray of the shower letting the water pour down on top of her head. It occasionally ran into her eyes stinging a little but she didn't close them. In that moment she hated. Hated everything. Hated that she couldn't turn the water hotter because her body would get over-sensitized sometimes. Hated that she couldn't close her eyes long enough to rinse her hair. Hated that she wanted to scream out loud but the never ending tightness in her chest kept it bottled inside.

Hated that she had fallen apart on a mission.

Hated that Myka, and even Pete, had been so kind about it.

And she hated that the strongest emotion she could feel was hate. She longed for the person she had been. An optimist. A dreamer. A scientist eager to learn everything. But she had begun to doubt she knew who that person was or if she had ever really existed. She could no longer remember a time when she wasn't thinking about pain, suffering, and revenge.

Looking down at her own body she could see that most of the mud had washed away. Grabbing the wash cloth and soap she quickly scrubbed away any last vestiges of the muddy tunnel that she knew would be haunting her for some time to come wishing memories could be so easily cleansed from ones mind as dirt from a body.

After one more shampooing of her hair to make sure all the dirt was out she quickly turned off the water tap. Pushing back the shower curtain she reached for one of the fluffy towels Leena kindly supplied all the agents. Drying off her body she ended by briskly rubbing her hair to wring out the excess water. Stepping over to the vanity she stared at her own reflection in the slightly steamed mirror for a moment. Taking in the dark eyes and familiar features. Frowning slightly she watched brackets form around her down turned mouth. Tiny lines that she didn't remember seeing before, but surely had been there. Surely.

Using one hand she quickly wiped away what little steam was on the mirror smudging her reflection. Grabbing a comb she worked it through her hair in the now distorted image of herself. Once satisfied she pulled on the 'yoga' pants and loose shirt that Myka had recommended she buy. The two had gone on a number of shopping trips together to fill out Helena's wardrobe among other things. She did enjoy those outings. Enjoyed time with Myka. The woman was the culmination of all that she and the other suffragettes from her time had struggled for the right to become. An independent woman.

And yet, with independence, did not come utopia apparently. The human struggle continued unabated. If not for the vote, then for equal pay, or respect, or dignity. On and on it went.

And Helena hated.

Gathering up her soiled clothing she opened the bathroom door and headed down to the laundry room where Leena had told both her and Myka to leave their dirty cloths. Helena didn't think they could be salvaged but the Innkeeper did, so she left them in the deep sink beside the washing machine as instructed. Apparently a good soak and some careful scrubbing was all the cure they needed. Turning away she left the room unconcerned if the soiled clothing ever returned to her drawers in a wearable state or not.

The innate ability to compartmentalize bad things that had happened to her had saved more than just Helena's life in the past. It had kept her functioning when she quite simply should be insane. Of course, a survival skill so vital to her existence tended to take over regardless of intention and by the time Helena had walked from the laundry room to Claudia's 'work space' at the end of the hall her mind had tucked away the upsetting experience from earlier in the day and settled on a little project her and the younger woman had been working on for a few days. Settling onto the high stool in front of the cluttered wooden work bench she clicked on the lcd light with built in magnifying glass. Under its lens she stared at the disassembled insides of her iphone. As her eyes traced the patterns of wires and electrodes not one thought of dark confining spaces entered her mind.

Had she allowed herself to think about it she might have realized that now, while safe and warm at the inn, was the perfect time to talk about what had happened. Having survived the crisis the time to decompress and recover from the trauma was now. But Helena had no experience with that part of life. She had not had anyone to help her through before and had learned to push on in spite of everything. And no one had ever taken the time, or had the knowledge, to help her. Which was why, some time later she was startled from her bent position over her phone's component parts by the sound of a throat clearing. Nearly dropping the tweezers she had been using she quickly turned her head toward the doorway.

"Mrs. Fredrick! I didn't realize you were there."

"I'm sorry I surprised you Agent Wells. I thought you had heard me enter." Stepping closer she eyed the array of electronics laid out before the Victorian inventor. "Is that your iPhone... and a Farnsworth?"

"Oh, no actually. Its my iPhone and some components from the Farnsworth aisle. Claudia and I have been discussing the merits of merging some of their systems and I offered up my phone as the sacrifice." Smiling brightly Helena glanced back at their attempts with the pleasure of invention clear on her face. "There have been some amazing advances..."

"And what are you hoping to accomplish?"

Pleased that Mrs. Fredrick didn't sound annoyed with their tinkering Helena began a complex explanation of how she understood the GPS and satellite system worked with her cell phone and that they believed they could fudge a device with some of the Farnsworth components to be able to easily track any phone's movement. "Really this is mostly Claudia. She is software. I am hardware." Fingering a few loose wires she grinned at her own use of modern technical lingo, but felt it falter slightly as Mrs. Fredrick just smiled politely. "I'm sorry, I've gotten carried away with my explanation. Was there something you needed?"

Standing up Mrs. Fredrick nodded. "I came to see you actually. Would you join me in Artie's office? We can have Leena make us some tea."

Feeling suspicious, Helena nodded and turned off the magnifying light. "Tea would be lovely. I will just go to the kitchen and..."

Mrs. Fredrick held up a hand as she led them from the room. "I've already asked." Opening the door to the office she nodded to the tray laid out with a tea pot and cups with a small plate of cookies. The two women prepared their own cups to their liking before sitting back on the cushions of the couch both facing toward one another while holding their cups.

Unsure what was going on Helena fell back on manners ingrained in her by her mother to fill the silence. "This tea is lovely. Thank you so much for asking Leena to make it. She does a very good brew."

The older woman smiled, "Yes, almost as good as Caturanga I would say."

At the name so casually mentioned, Helena's hand shook causing the cup to rattle on her saucer slightly. "Excuse me?"

Setting down her cup, Mrs. Fredrick turned to more fully face the other woman. "Agent Wells, you know more about the Warehouse than most of your fellow agents. Possibly more than Artie even. So I know you will not be surprised if I tell you that I too am old enough to have met the puzzle maker of Warehouse 12."

Helena set her own tea down no longer interested in it despite how perfectly brewed it was. "I am aware that a Warehouse caretaker can live a long time. I was not aware that you had met anyone from Warehouse 12."

"I did. It was years after you had been bronzed. And shortly before Warehouse 13 came online."

Wary, Helena held her tongue. She didn't know where the other woman was going or why she was telling her any of this. It had been her experience, both with the Warehouse 12 caretaker and the current one that sharing information was not their strong suit. And when they did it was always on their own time for their own agenda. Holding Mrs. Fredrick's gaze she simply waited.

Smiling at the composed expression on the Agent's face, Mrs. Fredrick got to the point. She could tell that Helena was more than ready to out wait her. Perhaps a century in bronze had that effect on you. It certainly wasn't how she had been described by the Warehouse 12 caretaker. "I wanted to share something with you. Perhaps answer some lingering questions you may have about your situation. Though I fear it may simply generate new ones."

Helena remained still hands clasped together in her lap waiting patiently for the other woman to continue. Outwardly calm, but inside questions were tumbling about in a clamor.

"During your interview with the Regents to be reinstated you explained why you were bronzed, but that the agreement had been you would be released." Mrs. Fredrick's astute observation allowed her to see the slight tightening of the other woman's face, but continued when she remained silent. "For some reason all record of you and that was lost, and so I, as Warehouse caretaker, began looking through the journal of the caretaker of Warehouse 12 for a reference to you."

At that, Helena shifted forward in her seat, but remained silent. Intently staring at the other woman waiting for what could be the missing piece to a puzzle she had given up hope of figuring out. Ironically, while bronzed she had no idea how very long over due her release had become. But once McPherson had told her the date she had been shocked and appalled at the betrayal.

Reaching by her feet, Mrs. Frederic pulled out a leather bound book and rested it on her knees. "What I am going to tell you is fairly confidential, and I am trusting in your continued discretion in maters, but I feel you deserve to know." Hesitating, she carefully added, "And I think it may help you sort out how you feel about certain things."

Flipping the book open to a marked page, she handed it to Helena. "Mr. Durant kept extensive notes on the happenings of his Warehouse. He in fact was the first to begin making it an organized duty of the caretaker. You can see from the date he noted his first meeting with you." Smiling, Mrs Frederic added, "And his complete certainty that you were meant to be a Warehouse Agent regardless of the opinion of his male contemporaries."

Helena remembered the many circular conversations in the Warehouse about whether she, a woman, could even be a full agent. Fine to have her in the office doing paper work and assisting, but a full agent had been a hard thing for some of the men around her to accept. Giving a smirk she spoke as she reached out for the book, "It was an era of progress for women..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered the man's role in her fate. "What did he say about... what happened to me?"

"That unfortunately is not as clear." Mrs. Fredrick grimly pulled another journal out and opened it to a pre-marked page before handing it over to the Victorian. "As you can see he had begun to... deteriorate." Seeing the confused look on Helena's face she explained, "As a warehouse reaches the end of its time things begin to break down, and the caretaker, as an extension of the warehouse can also begin to slip if precautions are not made."

Helena leaned closer to see the page Mrs. Fredrick had opened to in the second journal. She could see that the writing had become visibly erratic. Almost indecipherable in places. "What date is that?"

"I believe it is the date you were bronzed."

Helena gently ran her fingers over the curving ink lines that scrawled across the page. They bore very little resemblance to the neat and careful script in the previous journal. Only a word or two was actually legible. Flipping a few pages she could see that the unreadable text continued both before and after that most damning day. The day Helena had given up controlling her own fate thinking that after having served her time for crimes committed she would have been allowed out to live again having completed her sentence without aging a day. Instead she had been forgotten along with any other random artifact on the shelves. Shipped to the United States like so much cargo and only set free at the hands of man with an agenda he thought she could help him with.

Flipping closed the journal, Helena handed both books back to Mrs. Frederick. "Thank you for showing me."

Mrs. Fredrick nodded. "None of the other records in the warehouse indicate a date of your release. Do you know of anyone who would have manipulated them?

"It could have been anyone..." Helena gave a small shrug. "By the end I was not very concerned with internal warehouse politics, but I knew that many were debating allowing the warehouse to move from England to the States. And I had made my stance on that clear upsetting the pro-England faction. Though by the end I did not have many who trusted me any longer."

"Perhaps that is it."

Helena's gaze drifted to the window as her thoughts drifted back to memories she rarely allowed herself to visit while awake. Shaking her head she looked back at Mrs. Fredrick and smiled sadly. "I fear you have simply given me more questions."

"Perhaps. But I find that good questions often lead to excellent answers." Mrs. Frederic stood to leave. "I will continue to learn what I can... and share what I can with you." Tucking the journals back into her bag she spoke once more before leaving. "I would remind you that you are surrounded by very intelligent and talented agents in their own right who seem to care about your fate. Don't underestimate the value of having people on your side Agent Wells."

Helena sat quietly contemplating the conversation after the other woman had left. Her thoughts drifting randomly from memories at warehouse 12 to her new companions at warehouse 13 and how vastly different things were in many ways. Startled from her thoughts by a sound in the hallway she got up to open the office door only to be greeted by the sight of one of the most significant differences to date.

Myka Bering stood panting just inside the Inn's entry way leaning against a wall stretching. The woman was wearing the shortest pants Helena had ever seen her in and a tight sleeveless shirt. When the other woman turned around Helena had to jerk her gaze back up from seemingly endless bare skin covered in sweat to meet amused green eyes. "Ah, Myka. What exactly are you doing?"

"I just got back from a run." Myka walked toward the stairs not noticing Helena's semi-frozen expression. "I looked for you but Leena said you were with Mrs. Fredrick. Everything okay?"

"Yes, yes of course." Helena watched as Myka continued to stretch her long limbs with an expression somewhere between pleasure and pain. "May I ask exactly what you were running from?"

Myka stood up strait laughing. "I wasn't running from anything, well, nothing physical. Perhaps my thoughts..." Bending again she tugged off her running shoes which had gotten a little muddy and she was loath to dirty Leena's entry twice in one day. "I was just running. Studies have shown that regular exercise reduces stress and improves mood. The release of endorphins and serotonin can lift one from a depressed state to a positive one. And after the stress of today I needed a little lift."

Crossing her arms over her chest Helena leaned nonchalantly against the office door jamb. "And this requires you to be half naked?"

Grinning, Myka pushed sweaty hair back from her face before meeting her friends teasing look and decided to tease back a little. "It isn't required I just prefer it."

"Hmmm I see." Helena smiled, "Lucky us then that you like to keep your endorphin levels high."

Having caught her breath, Myka chose to ignore the last comment and asked again, "Is everything okay with Mrs. Frederick?"

"Yes, she had some interesting information to share with me." Helena returned to the office and retrieved the tea service tray before heading to the kitchen to clean it. "And we had tea."

"I see." Myka trailed behind the other woman not sure how to ask her next question. She very much wanted to know how Helena was doing after the earlier incident, but didn't want to be the one to open up the conversation. As she watched Helena carefully pour out the now cold tea and begin running soapy water in the sink to wash the pot she came up beside her leaning against the counter.

Helena let her eyes drift to Myka's face, but didn't say anything before focusing on her self assigned task of washing the tea pot. She liked letting Myka turn thoughts over in her head. She could practically see the words being sorted, dismissed, and decided upon before the younger woman allowed them out for the rest of the world to hear. Helena had never met anyone so conscious of the value and power of words. She admired and respected it greatly and had decided early after meeting Myka that she would always listen carefully to words that were chosen with such thought.

Seeing that Helena was not going to say anything else, Myka shook her head and smiled. The woman was so enigmatic at times that it could be down right disturbing. It drove Artie mad and perplexed Pete. But Myka liked it. Admired the ability to be unflappable and not feel the need to fill the silence with chatter.

Going to the fridge and pulling out a bottle of water, Myka drank most of it down before looking back over at Helena who quickly returned her gaze to her task when she realized that Myka had seen her gaze. It could be pretty powerful to realize there were things that Helena admired as well and it gave Myka a small ego boost. "Well I am going to go take another shower. Now that I'm all sweaty."

"All right." Helena dried her hands on a towel as she watched Myka confidently leaving the kitchen. Before she could think about it she called out to stop her, "Myka?"

Myka turned back with a questioning look.

"After your shower... would you care to go for a walk with me?"

"I would love to." Myka's smile was huge and she made no effort to stop it.

Helena smiled at the genuine pleasure clear on Myka's face. "Lovely. Come find me when you are done."

"You can count on it." With a casual waive Myka left the kitchen to head upstairs pleased that Helena had reached out in this small way. Even if they didn't end up talking about what had happened earlier she took comfort in knowing that their Time Traveler was starting to find her way among them.


End file.
